Our clients know that the cost of owning and operating networking infrastructure is a key factor contributing to the overall ROI of IT. For example, when clients upgrade their data center environments, they vastly prefer to avoid the expense of ripping out and replacing existing cabling infrastructures. In the cabling world, the majority of today’s data center networks use 1000Base-T (Gigabit Ethernet) running on Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat6a twisted pair structured cabling.

Now, increasing demand for user, device-generated and machine-to-machine bandwidth is driving a shift to 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Until now, however, the migration from 1GbE to 10GbE and beyond has been hampered because existing 10G links are based on optical transceivers or SFP+ Direct Attach copper, neither of which is compatible with Gigabit Ethernet. Now, technology advances have reduced the price and power consumption of 10GBase-T to enable a seamless migration from Gigabit to 10GbE Ethernet using existing cabling infrastructures. Both 1000Base-T and 10GBase-T use RJ45 connectors and a structured cabling model with twisted-pair wiring, 100-meter maximum spans, and standards-based auto-negotiation for backward compatibility.

That’s why we’re getting such a positive response to our new IBM RackSwitch G8264T, a new top-of-rack switch from IBM System Networking that is part of a comprehensive 10GBase-T solution offering from IBM, which includes servers, storage and networking, providing better virtualization, better management, and smarter connectivity options for next-generation data centers.

Designed with top performance in mind, the IBM RackSwitch G8264T is ideal for today’s big data, cloud and optimized workloads leveraging cost-effective 10GBase-T connectivity. The IBM RackSwitch G8264T incorporates 48 10GBase-T connections plus four 40Gb QSFP+ connections in a 1U form factor for flexible and low-cost connectivity at distances up to 100m for 10G environments. The IBM RackSwitch G8264T delivers line-rate, high-bandwidth switching, filtering, and traffic queuing without delaying data. Large data-center grade buffers keep traffic moving. Redundant power and fans along with numerous high-availability features equip the IBM RackSwitch G8264 and G8264T for business-sensitive traffic.

The IBM RackSwitch’s 10 Gigabit interfaces and 40 Gigabit Ethernet for upstream connectivity and future expansion are the ideal complement to new IBM System x M4 servers, which utilize Intel’s “Romley” Xeon E5 processors that were designed with 10G Ethernet as the preferred interconnect for today’s high-performance computing workloads.

While there’s a whole new world of opportunity for Ethernet-everywhere data center network infrastructures with next-generation capabilities, clients never prefer to rip out and replace their existing and significant investments in connectors and wiring. Our new IBM RackSwitch G8264T is the “poster child” for next-generation networking that leverages existing client investments.

Do you see the maturity of 10GBase-T as an important catalyst for the migration from Gigabit Ethernet to 10 Gigabit in the data center network?